TATTIFILARIOUS comedian Ken Dodd honoured the finest traditions of show business when the Stockport theatre where he was performing was plunged into darkness.

With a member of staff shining a torch on the stage to make sure the audience could see him, Doddy carried on with his act at the Plaza Theatre on Sunday night after the main fuse went and all the lights failed.

Despite the theatre being plunged into pitch darkness Ken Dodd proved himself a real trouper, while a member of the staff held up a torch so the audience could see him, and Doddy himself used a torch to show his feet when he was tap dancing.

"He very much took the attitude that the show must go on and he just carried on with his act," said a Plaza spokesman. "He is a real professional and didn't want to sell anyone short."

"It was getting very close to the interval when the fuse went and the theatre was in darkness for about 35 minutes altogether." he added.

Ken Dodd's agent, Robert Holmes, said: "He always takes the attitude that the show must go on and this is very typical of that. He just carries on whatever happens. He takes the view that he is an entertainer and the audience is there to be entertained."

But pensioner Margaret Ogden from Denton said she and her husband, James, who attended the show with their next door neighbours, were frightened when the lights went out and decided to go home at the interval.

"It was completely dark apart from a few small lights at the top of the building and we were frightened as I felt it was dangerous for older people as there are a lot of steep stairs," she told us.

She said it had cost £60 in tickets for her party and £20 for a taxi home and it had been very disappointing, but they were afraid to stay in the dark as they didn't know when or if the lights would come on again.